SEATTLE, WASHINGTON--Arguing that caring for
a child with severe disabilities can be more difficult as they age and grow,
the parents of a six-year-old girl with developmental disabilities convinced
doctors at the University of Washington to give her massive dosages of estrogen
to stop her from developing.

The girl's treatment, which also included a hysterectomy, was approved
by a university ethics panel, and was revealed this week in the journal
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The parents had said that keeping their daughter's body small would
enable them to better take care of her at home.

Dr. Daniel F. Gunther, who is with the university's Division of
Pediatric Endocrinology, and Douglas S. Diekema, at the Center for Pediatric
Bioethics, said they hoped their research would generate a healthy debate on
the issue.

"If growth could be permanently arrested while the child was still
small, both child and parent would likely benefit because this would facilitate
the option of continued care in the home," they reasoned in their report.